Fatherhood

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Hello, everybody,

I posted a poem on my Instagram on Sunday about fatherhood and, as is my regular habit, I immediately started rewriting. So here is the original poem as posted and a few variations on the theme. I go into more detail on the audio version of this post but I’ll say here that it’s a beneficial exercise to dramatically change the tone and meaning of a poem simply by changing, adding, and subtracting a few words or lines. It demonstrates the enormous power of editing and revision. Also note that one can change the meaning and tone of a poem by simply changing the title.

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Fatherhood

I still sometimes step
on stray Legos
that escaped their toy box
and went solo
two decades ago.

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After the Divorce

I still sometimes step
on stray Legos
that escaped their toy box
and went solo
two decades ago.

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After the Divorce

She still sometimes steps
on stray Legos
that escaped the toy box
and went solo
two decades ago.

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After the Divorce

The mother sometimes
steps on stray Legos
that escaped the toy box
and went solo
three years ago.

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The Prodigal Son Returns Home

I step on Lego bricks
that escaped
my toy box
and went solo
two decades ago.

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After His Father’s Funeral

The son steps 
on Lego bricks
that escaped
the toy box
and went solo
two decades ago.

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Child’s Funeral

I step on Lego bricks
that escaped
my son’s toy chest
and went solo
three days ago.

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Child’s Funeral

I step on Lego bricks
that escaped
my son’s toy chest
and went solo
three decades
or three years
or three days ago.